


Golden Apple

by TheGreatCatsby



Series: Online Fan Fic Challenges [1]
Category: The Avengers (2012), Thor (Movies)
Genre: 30 Day AU Challenge, Mentions of Suicide, coffee shop AU, day 30
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-07-30
Updated: 2013-07-30
Packaged: 2017-12-21 22:22:41
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,858
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/905623
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheGreatCatsby/pseuds/TheGreatCatsby
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Tony Stark is a genius who needs a place to relax every once in a while.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Golden Apple

**Author's Note:**

> All typos are my own. I haven't really done much editing, but you'll see the reason why below.
> 
> This is part of a 30 day au challenge on Tumblr. Day 30 is any au of your choice, and I chose a coffee shop au because I am shocked that it wasn't one of the other 29 challenges. Anyway, I haven't been writing many of these ahead of time; they're all pretty much day of. This is the first one I'm posting on this site because it's slightly longer, and because it's the last day and it feels special. I might post some of the others later, because it's easier to archive stories here than on Tumblr. 
> 
> If you want to check out my Tumblr, my username is catsbythegreat.

Tony has a thing about coffee—he likes it a lot. Almost as much as alcohol, except Pepper actually encourages his coffee habit because it’s better for him than getting drunk all the time. Tony high on energy is better than Tony drooling on the floor, even if it compromises his sleep sometimes. 

“Genius never sleeps,” Tony tells her, and she shoves a stack of papers for him to sign into his arms and walks away. 

Genius, apparently, has to do boring administrative activities. 

As a result of his coffee addiction, Tony frequently scours the city for good places to get coffee and sit and do things that don’t involve running a highly successful business. In other words, he’s after an escape, even if he won’t call it that. Pepper gets annoyed when he refers to his business as a prison. (And he’s only kidding. Sort of.) 

Sometime towards the end of September, when the leaves start turning burnt shades of orange and red, a new café opens up near Grand Central—The Golden Apple Café. Tony notices it while taking a walk around Midtown, and then realizes that this isn’t a place he’s been before. And his other favorite café, a place creatively known as The Coffee Shoppe, has been getting too crowded lately. 

He walks into the place as if he’s already a regular, and is taken back by how cozy it seems. Places in Midtown Manhattan aren’t cozy, but this café has sofas and armchairs and tables surrounded by shelves full of books. Actually, there are a lot of books. Except for by the windows, where people are given a clear view of the street. 

There are only a few other people inside; a pale man with dark hair and a laptop, a woman with red hair reading a book, and prowling around on the sofa, a black cat. 

The cat isn’t a person, but cats have this thing about them that makes Tony distinctly uncomfortable, like they’re judging him more than any person could ever hope to judge him. 

There is also a man at the counter, dressed in a red apron. He looks like he belongs anywhere else but a coffee shop—he’s tall and blond, with blue eyes and a handsome face and muscles. Tony hopes he doesn’t look confused when he goes up to order. 

“I’d like your strongest coffee—warm, please,” he says. 

The man nods. “Will you be taking that to go, or shall you stay here?” He has a vague sort of accent. 

“Here, thanks,” Tony answers. The man turns away to start making Tony’s drink, but not before Tony notices that his nametag reads, “Thor.” Which is a name right out of Norse Mythology. He wonders if it’s his real name, but given that this is New York City, Tony wouldn’t put it past him. After all, rich city parents name their kids weirder things. 

As Thor makes the coffee, Tony looks around the shop. The cat has settled for a corner of the sofa nearest Tony and is staring at him. The red-haired woman also glances at Tony, but then looks away when he looks at her. 

The books are well-worn, as if they’ve all been read, some of them multiple times. 

Thor places a steaming cup on the counter and rings up the total. Tony gives him some money and then says, “So these books—are we allowed to read them?” 

“Of course,” Thor says, smiling. “We can even put them on hold for you for your next visit, so you can continue where you left off. Unfortunately, we aren’t selling them.” 

“They yours?” Tony asks. 

“No, they belong to my brother,” Thor says. 

“He must love to read.” 

Thor beams. “He does.” 

“Great. Well, thanks.” Tony takes a table by the window and pulls a book from the nearest shelf—“Macbeth” by William Shakespeare. He turns it over in his hand. He’s not read that much Shakespeare, and what he has read he doesn’t remember. That was ages ago, in high school. And Tony graduated high school early. 

He sips on the coffee, which is very strong, but also very good, with hints of hazelnut and vanilla. It warms him from the inside and gives him the wake-up he usually needs part-way through the day. As he watches people stroll around outside he thinks, “I could get used to this.” 

Eventually, he reminds himself that he has to get back to work. He places the coffee cup on the counter and bids Thor goodbye, and Thor says, “I hope to see you again” with a genuine smile, the sort that is all too rare among New Yorkers these days. Tony smiles back and leaves the café. 

He promises to come back. 

**

And so he does. The next few weeks are full of work punctuated by regular visits to the café. The place is busiest on weekends, when most people have free time to sit and read and sip on coffee and tea for hours, or else to write or just to people watch. The place is never over-crowded, though. There are always seats. It seems that many people don’t take their drinks to go, which is a change from most coffee shops in the city. 

Tony asks Thor about it, and Thor says, “Truthfully, I envisioned a shop where customers would come for a quick drink and leave. My brother thought of something different, something this city didn’t have. His favorite places were libraries and bookstores, growing up, and he wanted to bring that feeling here.” 

Tony finds out that Thor isn’t the only one who works at the shop. There is a young, charming man named Fandral who also deals with customers on a regular basis, and a college student named Darcy, who has brown hair and a tendency to be more sassy than friendly. But in a nice way. She’s also the only one who knows who Tony is on sight. 

“You’re the CEO of Stark Industries,” she tells him, handing him change from the register. “Slumming it with the common folk?” 

“Slumming it with the hipsters,” Tony says. “And the college students.” 

Darcy frowns, and then she says, “You wouldn’t happen to have any job openings in, like, a year, would you?” 

“Are you a science major?” 

“Political science,” Darcy says, “which is like science. But not. I can make it a science if you need me to.” 

Tony likes Darcy. 

Thor also has a girlfriend named Jane Foster, a prominent astrophysicist who Darcy once interned for, which is how she knows Thor. Tony’s only seen Jane once or twice—she’s busier than he is, working on something groundbreaking called the Foster Theory. 

“It’s wormholes in space,” Darcy tells him, “which is pretty cool and also a little crazy. But Jane’s not crazy. She’s smart as hell.” 

The best thing about the Golden Apple Café is the willingness of the employees to carry on conversation. Tony learns a lot about the people who work there, and if they aren’t friends, they’re more to him than the average barista at a city coffee shop. 

Sometimes, Thor will even sit down across from him at one of the tables on his break or when he comes in just to relax when he isn’t working, and it’s nice to have someone to talk to about things that aren’t business. 

“I need to bring my friend Bruce here,” Tony tells him. “He’s always looking for places to chill. He gets stressed, you see. I think he does science too hard sometimes.” 

“I did not know you could do science too hard,” Thor says. He’s likely thinking about Jane, who does science all the time. 

“You haven’t seen me science,” Tony says. “Or Bruce for that matter.” 

The next week Tony brings Bruce along, and Bruce loses himself in a book and some excellent tea that actually comes in a teapot. After they leave, he vows to come back. 

And Tony smiles, because this coffee shop in the middle of a huge city is starting to feel a bit like a home. 

**

“So you and your brother own this café?” Tony asks during one particularly slow day. 

Thor nods. “His name’s Loki-“

“I sense a theme here.” 

“Aye. Our parents were fond of mythology,” Thor says. “Anyway, Loki has had some…issues in the past. He is very intelligent, but then he spiraled into a dark place and needed help. I decided to start a business with him, as it would give him control and some form of distraction—“

“He’s never here,” Tony points out. 

Thor smiles. “Occasionally he is, but he takes care of the administrative side of things. I am more adept at dealing with customers. I am the more outgoing of us both.” 

“Okay. Cool. Do I ever get to meet him?” 

“Perhaps.” 

“Why’s it called the Golden Apple Café?” 

Thor chuckles. “Well, I wished to name it The Golden Hall of Valhalla and Loki wanted to name it Fuck You Thor—he was quite angry at me at the time. Eventually we compromised on the Golden Apple, which comes from Norse Mythology.” 

“Loki sounds pleasant,” Tony mutters. 

“He has had a rough time,” Thor tells him. 

“What happened?” 

Thor frowns. 

“You don’t have to tell me,” Tony quickly adds. “I was just wondering, since we were talking about it.” 

“He found out he was adopted,” Thor says. “It aggravated certain other issues, and-“ he cuts himself off. “Well, you don’t need to hear of sad things. This is a place to get away from all of that.” 

“That was Loki’s intention,” Tony says. 

Thor nods. 

Tony can’t help but wonder why Loki doesn’t use this self-created sanctuary in the city, then. Surely he can’t be working on the behind-the-scenes aspects of the café all the time. 

“Dr. Banner likes it here,” Tony adds, thinking of the eight hours Bruce spent the previous weekend drinking tea and reading science journals. 

Thor beams. “I am glad. Please, send as many friends as you like. They seem lovely. I shall have to introduce Jane to you and Dr. Banner. She doesn’t know enough people in the sciences.” 

“I don’t know anything about astrophysics,” Tony says. 

“She can teach you,” Thor says, “and you can teach her about artificial intelligence. I understand that you are gifted in this area.” 

“Some might call me the best,” Tony says, grinning, “and I’d agree with them.” 

Thor laughs. “You are something, Stark,” he says, and then walks away to greet another customer. 

Tony frowns. “I was serious.” 

**

The day Tony meets Loki is a fairly quiet day for the café. It’s only Tony, Bruce, and the red-haired woman who is apparently called Natasha, and who tends to keep to herself. She occasionally brings in a man named Clint, but Clint isn’t one for coffee shops, according to Thor. He gets bored and knocks down books. 

The only reason Tony notices anything is because the dark-haired man from the first time Tony was in the café briskly walks through the front doors, and straight to the register, where he starts talking to Thor in what sounds like frantic, worried tones. Tony can’t hear what they’re saying—they talk too quietly—but the dark-haired man sounds annoyed. Eventually, Thor manages to calm him down and he retreats to another area of the café, slumping in a chair and massaging his head. 

Natasha and Bruce both notice this exchange, but Bruce buries himself in his scientific journals. Natasha meets Tony’s gaze and then, her eyes flicker to the dark-haired man, and then to Thor. 

Which is how Tony figures out that the dark-haired man is actually Loki. 

Thor looks somewhat distraught behind the counter, and he starts making a cup of tea. Tony stands up and goes to sit in the chair across from Loki. 

Loki looks up, surprised. His face is pale, and he looks exhausted. 

“Hello,” Tony says, extending a hand. “I’m Tony Stark. I frequent this place and Thor’s told me a lot about you and I just want to say, good job. I’ve never stayed at any café this long.” 

Loki sort of takes him in, sizing him up, and then shakes his hand and says, “Then you must know who I am, Mr. Stark.” 

“Call me Tony.” 

“Tony.” Loki withdraws his hand. “What, exactly, has Thor told you about me?” 

“That you came up with the idea for the way this place feels, all cozy and with the books and stuff,” Tony says. “That you’re really smart.” He pauses. “But why don’t you come here more often if it’s supposed to be what you find relaxing?” 

Loki glances at the counter, at Thor. His hands flutter over the table as if looking to grip a cup, or something, and then settle. “I am not in the habit of working in public,” he says. 

“But it’s so nice,” Tony insists. “If I could, I would, but I can’t work in here according to Pepper. Except on my own designs. Company work has to be done in the office.” 

“Well then, I can’t work here,” Loki says. 

Tony frowns. “But you do work here. This place is half yours.” 

“What does it matter to you, Mr. Stark?” Loki asks, a touch of annoyance seeping into his voice. 

“It’s just…nice here,” Tony says. “Don’t you like it?” 

Loki sighs. His hands twitch, like he wants to hold something. Instead, he pushes himself out of his seat and stands. “I have to go. Good afternoon, Mr. Stark.” 

And then he walks out. 

Tony stares at the empty spot in front of him, stunned. 

“I think I just missed something,” he says. 

From behind him, Natasha says, “Haven’t we all.” 

Tony doesn’t move for a good amount of time. 

**

“He finds that he functions better alone,” Thor says grimly from behind a large cup of coffee. “Unfortunately he still hasn’t fully recovered.” 

From what? Tony doesn’t ask. It’s the next day, and Thor feels the need to apologize for the way Tony’s first meeting with Loki went. 

“But I mean, this seems like the sort of place that would do him good,” Tony says. 

“Part of it is my presence,” Thor admits. “He still isn’t used to working with me as an equal. I’m afraid I belittled him in the past.” 

Tony nods. He can see how Loki would have trouble in Thor’s presence. Thor is friendly and likable and bright, and he tends to command attention, while Loki…doesn’t. 

“Maybe he needs a drink,” Tony muses. 

Thor’s eyes light up. “Perhaps you-“

“Alcohol doesn’t solve problems,” Tony cuts in. It’s a line Pepper has told him many times. It doesn’t solve problems. It might seem like it’s helping, but it’s not. 

“He needs a friend,” Thor says. “He needs someone other than me. I think you and he would get along.” 

“Really,” Tony says, because judging from his encounter with Loki they probably wouldn’t. 

“I can convince him to talk to you, to spend time with you,” Thor says. His eyes look pleading. It’s unfair, just how convincing Thor is. “He needs someone. If you do not get along I will find someone else, but I truly believe that you two would make great friends.”

“Fantastic,” Tony says. “Yeah, I’m game. I don’t know how you’re gonna get him to come in and actually talk to someone, but sure.” 

Thor smiles. “I have my ways.” 

**

It takes five days before Thor manages to convince Loki to come in, on a Tuesday, their least busy day. In fact, Tony and Natasha are the only ones at the café, because Tony spends more time than he should hiding from his job, and no one knows what Natasha does for a living, but she’s typing furiously on a computer. Tony thinks she isn’t a writer. 

Loki walks into the café, looks around, and then turns to walk out, but Thor rushes towards him from behind the counter and grabs him by the arm. “Please, take a seat,” Thor says. He steers Loki towards a seat near Tony and forces him into it. 

Loki glares at him. “Whatever you’re planning, Thor-“

“I’m not planning anything,” Thor says. 

“Please. If this is your idea of therapy, I can tell you right now-“

“I’ll get you some tea,” Thor says, and then walks away. Loki looks affronted and a little bit shell-shocked. 

Tony has the feeling that Thor cuts him off a lot, and it must still be a point of contention between the two of them, Thor’s not listening and Loki’s trying to make himself heard. 

Now Loki stares out the window, determined not to look at Tony. 

Tony says, “Hi.” 

Loki sighs. “I am not in the mood to talk.” 

“Shame. I’m in the mood to listen.” Tony takes a sip of coffee. “I get bored at my job. It’s all business. No one tells me anything real.” 

“You want me to divulge my life secrets?” Loki asks, finally looking at him. 

“You seem like an interesting guy,” Tony says. 

Loki’s mouth twists. “You want to help.” He pauses. “Thor wants you to help.” 

“I-“

Loki leans forward and says, “I’m sure Thor didn’t tell you what really happened.” 

“Well, he-“

“I tried to kill myself,” Loki says, so quiet that Tony isn’t sure he heard right. “I didn’t want to live anymore. I am not stable, Stark, and if you think you can solve my problems, I can tell you right now that many have tried and failed. I have tried and I have still not found success.” He leans back. Tony stares at him. “I thought that you ought to know what you were getting into.” 

Tony swallows. He wasn’t expecting that. He doesn’t know what to say. 

Loki stands up and makes to leave, and Tony finds himself reacting without really thinking. He grabs Loki’s arm and says, “Stay.” 

Loki stares at him. “Why?” 

“Just, okay,” Tony says, “this place is awesome. And I want to get to know the guy behind it, you know? And I can’t solve your problems, I’ll tell you that right now. I have problems of my own. But I can help. It helps to have other people.” 

Loki continues to stare at him. 

Then Tony asks, “Are these really all your books?” 

Loki sits down. Tony sits as well. Loki says, “Yes.” 

Tony nods. “It’s quite the collection.” 

“I have always enjoyed reading,” Loki says, “unlike Thor. Thor has barely looked at a book in the past ten years, let alone read one.” 

“I like to read,” Tony says, “but mostly science books. And I like to do science more than read about it.” 

“Do science,” Loki repeats with a smirk. 

“Yeah. Thor says I’d get along with his girlfriend, but I don’t know. Not all scientists think alike, you know? What do you think?” 

“I haven’t talked much with Jane,” Loki says. 

Tony hums. Then he asks, “What would you have done if you weren’t doing this?” 

“In an ideal life,” Loki says, “if nothing had gone wrong—if I wasn’t wrong—I would have liked to study medicine. There is something fascinating about the human body and how it works. As it is, I am restricted to this,” he gestures to the shop, “and writing.” 

“You’d like Bruce,” Tony says. “He knows a bit about medicine.” 

“Does he.” 

Tony nods. 

“And what about you?” Loki asks. “What do you know?” 

“Artificial intelligence,” Tony says. “Making something human that isn’t human.” 

“You know what humanity is well enough to replicate it?” Loki asks. 

Tony nods. “I’m the best in my field.”

Loki raises his eyebrows. “Is that so?” 

“That is so.” Tony sits up a little straighter. “Don’t believe me? Look me up. I’m all over the place, revolutionizing technology as we know it. I’ve even got my own AI, Jarvis. He’s special.” Kind of like a friend, but Tony doesn’t say that. 

Loki seems intrigued. He leans forward, almost as if hungry for more. “And to think my life’s work is running a café.” 

“We all need a place to relax,” Tony says. 

“I have accomplished nothing in the amount of time it has taken you to revolutionize technology,” Loki says. 

“You made this place,” Tony points out. “I love it. Helps me calm down, feel less overwhelmed. Helps Bruce, too. And quite a few other people. You’ve got regulars, Loki. That has to mean something.” 

Loki glances around the café, and then back at Tony. He murmurs, “Sometimes I wonder if it’s enough.” 

Tony watches him. Beneath his cool exterior there is a sort of emotional war taking place, where part of Loki wants to accept the good things in his life, the accomplishments he’s made so far, and another part of him just doubts and hates and can’t believe any of it, and it isolates him. Tony has dealt with these things himself, and this is the first time he’s seen it in someone else. 

Or maybe this is the first time he’s noticed. 

“I’m not Thor,” Loki says after a moment. “I’ve told Thor I hated him, and there are times I think I do.” 

“And the other times?” Tony asks. 

“I’m jealous. I wish I could be as charming, as likable.” Loki sighs. “He’s not my brother and he is. I thought running a café with him was the worst sort of punishment for my transgressions. Perhaps I had died and gone to hell.” 

“Is it?” Tony asks. 

“No.” Loki smirks. “We adapt.” Then he stands up. “I do have business to attend to. But perhaps I will see you again.” 

“I sure hope so,” Tony says. He reaches into his pocket and pulls out a business card, and hands it to Loki, who regards it with amusement. 

“What is this?” 

“My number,” Tony says, “if you need to talk. I’d like to get to know you.” 

Loki nods and pockets the card, a small smile touching his lips, and then he turns and walks out the door. 

Thor immediately comes out from behind the counter, where he’s been watching them closely, and says, “I believe you have made progress.” 

Tony shakes his head. “I just got him to talk for a few minutes and gave him my number.” 

“He smiled,” Thor says. “I haven’t seen him smile in forever.” Thor claps a hand on Tony’s shoulder. “Thank you.” And then he walks away to take his place behind the counter again, and everything suddenly strikes Tony as incredibly sad. 

He’s had his own family problems, but he’s never had sibling problems. And somehow he’s thankful for that. 

He hopes that Loki can come into this place he created, a place that he should like an feel comfortable in, without feeling like a stranger, or someone who doesn’t belong. 

And Tony does want to get Loki more. So he will keep coming back, and hoping that Loki will show up and sit at his table and gradually open up to him. 

It isn’t a permanent fix. But it’s progress.


End file.
